Early last evening I had the pleasure to witness the opal challenge for MoonBeryl, between its current holder Tarl, and challenger Tareth. We went into the back room of the Outback, and I watched the two fight it out.

In the first match, Tarl and Tareth stepped into a regular ring. It was a hard battle, ending up a 5-4 win for Tarl. First he took a shot to the legs, then gave one right back in turn! There was a lot of manuevering after that, but then Tarl missed Tareth with a jab. The very next round they were both scoring again, hooking and chopping. Then a few rounds later, Tarl had taken the lead with this great jumpkick! He took the match as they both
collided in the center of the ring.

I gave the two duelers a few minutes to rest because I was putting together a special improvised ring. I figured, this was a challenge, after all, and it should be a little more challenging than a regular match. So when I spotted some empty kegs, I knew what I had to do. I pulled them out of the corner and set up a square ring with them. Each stood upright, their sides touching. At the top there were spaces between the various barrels, that each
brawler had to avoid falling into. I thought it would be quite a challenge to fight on there, indeed. I even liked it so much I made it a new ring in the main room of the Outback, and call it Barrel o' Monkeys!

The second match was much quicker, and Tarl won again, this time shutting out his challenger! I would have thought this match would be tougher, with this odd terrain, but Tarl seemed to have no problems with it. Maybe his Opal was helping. He began by sweeping down Tareth as it looked like he was getting his balance. Then, in the course of the duel, -twice- Tarl knocked Tareth off the barrels with a spinkick! He took the win by dodging Tareth's
desperate jab! In six short rounds, the score was 5-0.

::walks up to the board and chuckles reading the result of this match, then makes a few insulting comments to himself about Tareth::

Aww poor Tareth little baby is gonna have to wait another month. Maybe if he took one challenge seriously instead of not caring cause he just challenges over and over maybe he would actually win one of these. Then again maybe he just isn't good enough to win an Opal. ::shrugs:: Oh well not like they are that special anyways no one ever uses em anything. Hmm maybe I could change that though.

::walks off a smirk on his face glad to hear Tareth took a beating, and begins scheming a possible plot to get an opal himself::

Sorry about the lateness, but I'd like to say that Tarl achieved the rank of Yellow opal on April 18, 1998.

Overlord Dal held the overlord ranking in DoS for 19 months. Tarl has held the Opal ranking for 20 months, making him the longest standing dueler to hold a high rank in all three dueling sports. He has successfully defended his opal six times, winning 12 out of the 13 matches laid upon him. He has also held his Emerald since April of 1997, one year before achieving the status as the 5th Yellow Opal. I would like to congradulate Tarl on an amazing
achievement.

This Opal has another interesting feature. I won that Opal on that very night through tournament. I asked Tarl to challenge me there on the spot after defeating him for the Opal in the process of the tournament.

To my knowledge it is the only Opal to have been passed twice in the same night, and through the agreement of all parties was the only challenge fought in that Free Challenge Time Frame.

I held the Opal for the shortest time on record which was about 80 minutes. Tarl on the other hand then has held it the longest.